THE WOLF'S DEN - Tana dei Lupi I

[stefano]

Ita, you are right. And so is Shield. Stranieri are a fact. Even so, our team is la Roma. She doesn't sell out. One must buy in.

[edge_xeno]

My concern is hugely growing about Aquilani, no lomba, i would not be happy with Aquilani-Adriano swap, unless if we are buying Steven Gerrard to replace him, but no way i'd take that deal.

Aquilani must stay at Roma, he is the future of our midfield with De Rossi, i'am really pissed off from this rumors.

[marco]

[Italiamia]

[marco]

[pocari_fenrir]

[g.smiley]

whata goal!!!

[g.smiley]

How about that awesome live tv angle? Panucci!! I feel 7-0!!

[pocari_fenrir]

that goal was wicked, how Panucci manages those headers for us...... just beautiful..... Aquilani looks shaky today though, i seriously hope he doesnt have Inter on his mind

[g.smiley]

Giuly very often shows too much of the ball, or he runs himself into trouble. His touch isnt very good sometimes. I wish he would calm down in a way.

[p_maldini_3]

daniele de rossi. MoM

he won the game today for you guys. what a classy player. phenomenal.

[g.smiley]

[maro]

Yes, Smiley, I know what you mean - neither Ludovic nor Simone are quite what one might want from a cultured trequartista. DDR was a monster tonight and it was nice to see 90 minutes for Ciicinho and for the little eagle. Lomba, to be perfectly honest, were Inter to buy Gerrard and then offer an exchange of Adriano and Gerrard for Aquilani, I wouldn't take the deal. He was all right tonight, still struggling a little bit to get match fitness, and I like what the Pizza brings to the midfield as a regista, but simply watching DDR and Aquilani playing together in the middle of the pitch tonight was a joy for me. That's part of what being a Romanista means. I wouldn't even need a second thought to turn down that exchange.

The question of Italiani/stranieri within the side is an interesting one. I have to confess that I don't have any more affection for Gilardino as an Italian than for Mutu, say, probably simply because Gila has played for another of the 'big' Italian teams. Rosina is a slightly different case. I think I could probably cope with Edge's line-up so long as the bench comprised Curci, Rosi, Freddi, Marsili, Palermo [for the architect], Cerci, and Okaka, if you see what I mean. I have less trouble with a lopsided starting 11 so long as the squad retains a serious Italian and giallorosso heart.

I also think Doni has taken an enormous step forward over the past year. Perhaps it's just a lucky patch, but for me he is actually playing like a top-class keeper at the moment. It's been a while since he fekked up big time (please, Lord, don't let it be against Real as I suggested a while ago). He's suddenly become accurate and composed as well as spectacular. I don't mind his keeping Curci out of the team so long as he's playing excellently. I guess the basic point in the Avvocato's grumblings is that he doesn't mind spectacularly gifted stranieri (Aldair, Falcao, etc.), but we don't want adequate players coming from afar. Better Rosi than Wilhemsson, as it were.

One other comment about tonight - Max and Simone made such a difference when they came on, for me. I thought Cassetti and Cicinho and Giuly did all right and, of course, Ludovic made the second goal with a little bit of quality, but for all their limitations, Max and Simone are so accurate and so instinctively attuned to the way the team plays. Being able to bring them off the bench wasn't a luxury we had last season. Let's hope their slightly fresher legs are enough for the challenges ahead.

[marco]

much of that second half was painful to the eyes. completely uninspiring....until of course ddr decided to take into his own hands and work his ass off collecting balls in the midfield and looking for outlet passes. sure giuly's little dance was nice but ddr was key to that second goal. apart from his cross on the first goal, totti looked out of it all game. his touches were off almost each time he got the ball. taddei was also quite dissappointing and he's been struggling to find any sort of offensive form since he's been back from injury. i thought panucci and cassetti had good games as well. aquilani still needs time but toward the end of the game it looked like his confidence was coming back and it would have been nice to see him bury that long range shot that grazed the bar. overall, though, we need to raise our game much higher and very quickly. we are about to enter the stretch from hell and performance like the last two games are not going to cut it.

[marco]

i agree about tonetto and perrotta. aside from some moments in the first half, it seemed like we would collectively hit a wall about 2/3 up the field. they were giving us the space to build up, mind you, but it just seemed like the 3/4-sta line together with totti became quite static once they got to that point of the field. also, it looked like they got there all at once and inline rather than staggered with a couple of bodies deeper to hold up and dish off to oncoming players (or threading through behind reggina's defence). instead we could only seem to manage square passes across the line which they started to pick off regularly. we also got little help from cassetti and cicnho (or taddei) in any offensive surges so we ended up playing way too narrow for most of the game. of course that all changed as soon as those two veterans came on. we ended up getting more width from tonetto along the wing and simone always looking to move into open space all across the 3/4sta line, which is what he does best.

[maro]

Yes, Taddei was terrible tonight (again). One of the things about Simone which I'd never really picked out until Spags noted it in contrast with the little eagle a few weeks ago, is that he does so much of his work with his back to goal. I always think of him as contributing by getting beyond Francesco, but he so often also contributes by coming back to link-up play and is so important, therefore, in our style of play, keeping the ball on the ground, allowing others to move around him. Giuly, in Smiley's terms, is possibly a bit more direct, but that's not always what this team needs.

[stefano]

Does anyone know of a website that would display all time Roma statistics, more specifically total number of minutes logged by individual players on the pitch wearing the Roma shirt? Barring serious injury, banging my head on the desk here as Shield so elequently put it a couple of weeks ago, De Rossi will likely top such a list by the time his career ends.

[p_maldini_3]

guys, is it possible for a team to stipulate in a contract with a player that the player cannot enforce a 'bosman' (and eventually a 'webster')?

[Italiamia]

Maro, I am sorry but I would rather have a few gifted Italians before I accept gifted foreign players no matter what country they come from. As a Roma fan, I accept the fact that we have had very good Brazilians over the past 3 decades and they are certainly part of Roma history. Nevertheless, I am a purist. In my eutopian view of Roma I see 11 Italians on the pitch and another 11 on the bench. Being realistic, I must accept the fact that my wish will never become that reality. But I think I have been clear. If we go the road of Inter then it's over for me. Roma will cease to exist.

As far as today is concerned, we did well in the first half and we sucked it up in the second half. We will never get away with that against the opponents we have on the schedule over the next month. This team still has a lot to be desired. Taddei was pure garbage today. Totti had another very poor and uninspired performance. He looks uncomfortable and it appears that his mind is elsewhere. I hardly noticed his presence today. Reggina basically sucks, and we are the mediocrities of europe right now in my opinion. They better damn well find themselves before next weekend or this season will be over.

[Frenchesco]